The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-10-01
LEARNING TO SWIM.


An Important Accomplishment That
Should Be Acquired by Everybody.
Learning to swim requires intellect
ual as well as physical effort; the form
er is rarely used, and the consequence
Is that it sometimes takes months, and
often years, to learn. The great
trouble in learning is the nervousness
that every one feels at first about get
ting the head under water, and all eff
forts are used in keeping the head out
The experience of the writer in teach
ing boys to swim has convinced him
that this is wrong A good swimmer
should be able to swim under water as
well as at the surface, and the first
step in learning should be to get ac-
customed to having the head under
water The learner should at first have
all fear taken away. and then the rest
Is easy. The writer has taught quite
number of boys to swim, and in
many cases they have learned at the
very first time trying. His method is
as follows: Take the learner into the
water, clear water if it can be found,
about waist deep, SO that he knows that
he can recover his footing at any time
he chooses. The first effort should be
to hold the breath and submerge the
face, keeping the eyes open. or better
still, if he can do il at first, submcrgc
the whole head. This should be prac-
ticed until no difficulty is experienced
in keeping the eyes open, and exclude
Ing the water from the mouth and
nose, and until all nervousness is gone.
There need be no fear of injury to the
eyes or ears. Then the learner should
select an object, say fifteen feet away,
plunge boldly under the water. and
make the best of his way to 1t by swim
ming under water with his eyes open,
and fixed upon the point selected. In
almost all cases, his mind being re-
lieved from fear, he will instinctively
adopt the methods calculated to accom-
plish the end desired, while, on the
other hand, a nervous effort to keep
the head out of water fixes the mind
upon that alone, and the effort is made
in that direction, rather than in learn
ing to swim.
Some instruction in making the
stroke, however, should be given. The
finger ends should be brought to-
gether at the breast, with the thumbs
side by side between the palms Of the
hands and level with their upper
edge; with the hands in this position,
the arms should be extended to THEN
full length, when the backs of the
hands should be rolled inward bring
ing the thumbs down, until the backs
form the letter V, the thumbs being
back to back and the edges of the
forefngers touching The learner is
now in position for making the most
important movement in learning to
swim, and this is made by sweeping
the extended arms aud "dishing''
hands rapidly around until they touch
the sides, when they should again be
brought to the breast ready for an.
other stroke There are few readers
who have not seen the movement OF
the frog in the water. aud the aim
should be to initiate it in the move
ment of the legs. In the recovering
stroke the movement should be slow;
that Of the propeling stroke rapid by
comparison.
Only about two and one-half pounds
| of lifting force, in addition to the
buoyancy of the body, is required to
hold the head entirely out of the
water. %. Guthrie, in Chicago Herald.